It is a collection of six short stories that he has been working on for more than a year.

(I was an English major and I had no idea what “inchoate” meant. For those of you who may also be wondering, it means “not yet fully developed, just begun.”).

His dad and I are incredibly proud of him.

He informed us over a year ago that his goal was to publish his first work of fiction before he turned 18.

He has fulfilled that goal with three months to spare.

His dedication to this dream has been something to behold. He made himself write every day, even when it wasn’t convenient.

“Writers write,” he told me.

Writing to him is as necessary as breathing. He loves everything about it, including the challenge of pushing through writer’s block. He keeps a little notebook with him at all times so that when he is inspired by something he can immediately jot it down. If an idea hit him at 1:00 in the morning, he got up, turned on the colored Christmas lights that are draped around his room, and began to type away on his keyboard.

I definitely did not have that kind of drive when I was 17 years old. To me, the fact that he has this passion and initiative at such a young age is breathtaking.

He has already proven that he is not one who will wait for life to come to him…he will go out and grab it with both hands.

I love that.

We Browns are a writing family. My husband won every writing award his college had to offer. I wrote a Bible study and write on this blog. Josh is also a blogger in addition to publishing his book and Julia has had an article published in the teen section of the New York Times.

Henri Matisse has said, “Creativity takes courage.”

It does take immense courage to put your work out there because in a sense, you are sharing a piece of your heart with the world. And the world is free to accept or reject it.

But even if you face rejection (and all creative types do), you have not let that stop you from sharing your God-given gift.

We are all made to create, whether it is with a pen, a paintbrush, a camera, or an instrument.

We all have something to say.

Don’t let fear stop you from sharing your art with the world.

Start that blog. Paint that picture. Write that book. Pick up your camera. Compose that song.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”—Antoine De Saint Exupery.

What will your art make others long for?

You have the ability to inspire others.

A new year is fast approaching.

Will this be the year that you give free reign to the artist who lives inside you?